NHL Capsules

2013-04-02 00:02:00

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Pittsburgh Penguins' run at a record-breaking streak is over. Playing without injured star Sidney Crosby, the Penguins fell to the Buffalo Sabres 4-1 to end their 15-game winning streak Tuesday night.

Pittsburgh was attempting to draw within one of the NHL record of 17 consecutive wins set by the 1992-93 Penguins, but looked out of sync and lost for the first time since falling to Carolina 4-1 on Feb. 28.

Kevin Porter scored his first two goals of the season for the Sabres, who won for the first time in five games. Steve Ott and Cody Hodgson also scored as Buffalo sent Pittsburgh to its first loss in more than a month. Ryan Miller made 19 saves on the night he surpassed Dominik Hasek for the most games played by a Sabres goaltender.

Jarome Iginla scored his first goal with the Penguins after coming over in a trade with Calgary last week but it wasn't nearly enough. Buffalo took a three-goal lead less than 25 minutes into the game to chase Tomas Vokoun, who stopped nine of the 13 shots he faced before being removed early in the second period.

BRUINS 3, SENATORS 2

BOSTON (AP)—Nathan Horton broke a tie midway through the third period with his fourth goal in four games and Boston beat Ottawa with an aggressive attack that produced a season-high 50 shots.

While awaiting the arrival of newly acquired five-time NHL scoring leader Jaromir Jagr from the Dallas Stars, the Bruins shook off their recent offensive woes with their second straight win after losing five of their previous seven games.

Horton got his 12th goal of the season at 10:21 of the third period after goalie Robin Lehner stopped Milan Lucic's shot with his pad. But Horton scored on the rebound.

The Bruins held a 50-47 advantage in shots on goal. Their previous high of 46 came on Feb. 28, also against the Senators, in a 2-1 overtime win in Boston.

The pace slowed for a while in the third period after Andre Benoit tied the score 2-2 with 1:55 gone following an officials' review. Play had continued after Benoit's hard, high shot. At the next whistle, officials ruled that the puck had gone in just under the crossbar then come out, resulting in Benoit's third goal of the season.

Colin Greening had given Ottawa a 1-0 lead 2:48 into the game before goals by David Krejci and Tyler Seguin 1:01 apart put Boston ahead 2-1 at 4:29 of the first period.

ISLANDERS 5, JETS 2

UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP)—Frans Nielsen scored the go-ahead goal and Kevin Poulin made 23 saves for his first win of the season and New York defeated Winnipeg.

With the victory, the Islanders moved past the idle New York Rangers into the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot.

The Islanders have 11 games remaining while the Rangers have 13.

Nielsen's power-play goal at 19:32 of the second period came when a rebound of a Mark Streit slap shot ricocheted to him in the right circle. Nielsen fired the puck past Ondrej Pavelec for this fourth of the season.

Matt Moulson added his 12th of the season at the 18:00 mark of the third. And John Tavares scored his team-leading 23rd of the season into an empty net with 36 seconds left.

Jets rookie defenceman Paul Postma scored twice for Winnipeg.

CAPITALS 5, HURRICANES 3

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)—Alex Ovechkin had two goals and an assist, and Washington beat Carolina despite allowing three goals to Jiri Tlusty.

Mike Green scored two goals, Joel Ward added a goal, Nicklas Backstrom matched a career high with four assists and Braden Holtby made 31 saves.

Washington trailed 2-0 early before scoring five goals on its first 11 shots, won its seventh in 11 games and won for the first time since 2007 when allowing a hat trick to an opposing player, according to STATS LLC.

It also was the Hurricanes' first loss when a player scored three goals since the move from Hartford in 1997.

Eric Staal and Alexander Semin each had two assists for the Hurricanes, who lost defenceman Joni Pitkanen to an apparent leg injury late in the second period.

Carolina's Dan Ellis stopped four of the seven shots he faced.

PREDATORS 3, AVALANCHE 1

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)—David Legwand scored with 1:14 left, and Nashville edged Colorado to avoid being swept by the Avalanche.

Patric Hornqvist scored a power-play goal that tied it up at 1 at 8:23 of the third, and Taylor Beck had two assists. Paul Gaustad had an empty-netter for his third this season with 14.7 seconds remaining.

Matt Duchene scored on a breakaway 61 seconds into the third for Colorado, which missed a chance to sweep the Predators for the first time in franchise history. Goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 35 saves for the Avs.

PANTHERS 3, LIGHTNING 2, SO

TAMPA, Fla. (AP)—Peter Mueller scored the only goal in the shootout and Jacob Markstrom had 39 saves to lead Florida past Tampa Bay.

Tomas Kopecky and Greg Rallo both scored power-play goals on deflections of shots by T.J. Brennan to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead after two periods.

The Lightning rallied in the third period. Tom Pyatt directed a pass from Teddy Purcell right above Markstrom's shoulder pad cut the Panthers' lead in half at 5:38. Alex Killorn tied it just less than 5 minutes later when a slap shot from Victor Hedman bounced off the boards and found its way onto Killorn's stick, where he slipped it past Markstrom.

COYOTES 3, KINGS 1

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP)—Jason LaBarbera stopped 39 shots, Keith Yandle scored his second goal late in the third period and Phoenix opened a critical homestand with a win over Los Angeles.

Needing to make up ground in the Western Conference standings, the Coyotes played their usual close-to-the-vest game and managed to hold on for their second win in 10 games after blowing two one-goal leads last week.

Matthew Lombardi put Phoenix ahead with his fourth goal of the season in the second period and Yandle followed his 50th career goal in the first with a tough-angle shot that beat Jonathan Quick with less than 3 minutes left.

LaBarbera made some tough saves in his fifth straight start in place of injured starter Mike Smith, the only goal against him a shot by Justin Williams that deflected off a Coyotes defenceman in the first period.

Quick had 28 saves for the Kings, who finished a five-game road trip 3-1-1.